Extinction Rebellion blockades Murdoch-owned plants

Environmental activists disrupted the publication of several British national newspapers on Saturday after they blockaded printing presses owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

More than 100 protesters from Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, chained themselves to vehicles and blocked roads to three sites across the UK that belong to Murdoch-owned Newsprinters.

The demonstration led leading to major delays in deliveries of several national newspapers. The plants print The Sun and The Times, which belong to the Australian-born businessman’s News UK group, as well as the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, and the Financial Times.

A Newsprinters spokeswoman said the disruption meant printing had to be transferred to other sites.

“This attack on all of the free press impacted many workers going about their jobs. Overnight print workers, delivery drivers, wholesale workers and retail newsagents have faced delays and financial penalty,” the spokeswoman was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

Read more: Extinction Rebellion — Climate protest despite coronavirus pandemic

British Home Secretary Priti Patel echoed the company’s criticism, writing on Twitter that “this attack on our free press, society and democracy is completely unacceptable.”

Police on Saturday said they had arrested dozens of people so far at different sites.

Extinction Rebellion said the protest aimed to “expose the failure of these corporations to accurately report on the climate and ecological emergency.”

The group on Saturday tweeted that the UK’s current Conservative government was “out of touch with the people.”

XR began ten days of renewed demonstrations across the country on Tuesday to demand that the government do more to tackle climate change.

Read more: Extinction Rebellion: The activists risking prison to save the planet

On Wednesday, its activists descended upon Westminster where demonstrators lay under white sheets to represent corpses.

Last year, more than 1,700 people were arrested during its 10-day “Autumn Uprising” that led to major disruption across the UK.

jf/rc (AP-AFP-Reuters)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/extinction-rebellion-blockades-murdoch-owned-plants/a-54824580?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf